A discount grocery store in Allegheny Township apparently is closing soon.

Save-A-Lot, located at 500 Hyde Park Road in Allegheny Plaza, is advertising 20% off all items in the store via handwritten signs displayed in store windows.

There is no visible signage informing customers that a closing in imminent, but employees were informing customers of the news as they shopped Thursday.

A visit by a Trib reporter Thursday revealed a store virtually devoid of merchandise, with the majority of refrigerators and freezers empty and dozens of bare shelves.

Two store employees, both of whom declined to give their names, confirmed the impending closure but offered no reason.

One employee said the store may close this weekend and that employees are “just taking it day by day.”

An official closing date has not been posted online or at the store, leaving customers and employees wondering when the last day of business will occur for the only Save-A-Lot in the Alle-Kiski Valley.

“It can’t stay open long; there’s nothing left in there,” frequent shopper Karen Shondelmyer of Bell Township said. “This is a bummer. They had good sales, deals, used to double coupons and I like to shop around for good deals.”

Allegheny Township Manager Greg Primm said he was not notified of the Save-A-Lot closing and didn’t have any additional information to provide.

Primm said Allegheny Township businesses are not required to notify the township if they are closing.

“I heard about the closing rumors on social media,” he said.

The closing question originally circulated on a public Vandergrift Facebook page called “You know you are from Vandergrift, Pa. when …”

Some customers leaving the store Thursday gathered in the parking lot, discussing the news.

“I am shocked, just shocked,” said longtime shopper Rhonda Wolfe of Kiski Township during what she said was her last time shopping at Save-A-Lot.

“This was my primary grocery store and the prices were half of the other grocery stores. I liked their meat prices and I came in about a month ago and noticed how low the inventory was, but I was told by employees that the trucks were late.”

Multiple attempts by a Trib reporter to contact the store’s owner, Joe Ferraccio, president of Ferraccio Family Markets, to confirm a closing date and provide a reason for the impending closure, were unsuccessful. A female employee at Ferraccio’s hung up on a Trib reporter when questioned about the reason for the closure and why a set date hasn’t been made available to shoppers.

Save-A-Lot, based in St. Ann, Mo., operates more than 1,300 locations across 36 states. Described as “a leader in the hard discount” food store industry, Save-A-Lot ranked third nationally in 2016, behind Walmart and Aldi, according to data from a Nielson’s Trade Dimensions/Specta report.

Eric Mikula of Kiski Township, a frequent Save-A-Lot customer for more than 14 years, said he noticed store inventory had decreased, but he wasn’t thinking a closure was in the works.

“I am disappointed,” he said while leaving empty-handed Thursday after perusing the store one last time. “This was one of three main grocery stores I shopped at.”

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